1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to scaffolding means and, more particularly, to low cost, readily assemblable and disassemblable scaffold means that may be stored compactly in the disassembled condition.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are many diverse industrial applications for scaffold means of the type to which the present invention is directed. The scaffolding may be used internally or externally for the repair and maintenance of buildings. For example, scaffolding of the type to which the present invention is directed may be used by painters, paper hangers, electrical and plumbing contractors or the like. A particular application of a scaffold, of the type to which the present invention is directed, is in the installation of siding such as aluminum siding wherein it is desirable, and in fact is frequently necessary, to have a relatively large store of tools and supplies close at hand during the installation of the siding.
While the need for structure such as exemplified by the present invention has long been known, and while there are many examples of prior art scaffolds in the patent literature, it will be appreciated from the subsequent descriptions of the present invention that the prior art does not satisfy all of the requirements of those working in the field. Prior art structure is either bulky or costly or both and, more frequently than not, is difficult and costly to assemble. Where the prior art does provide adequately sized auxiliary platform means, such as will be described in connection with the present invention, it does so at the expense of being relatively difficult to store when in the disassembled condition.
One example typical of prior art structure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,438,460 granted on Apr. 15, 1969, to L. J. Solari. In the Solari patent there is disclosed a pair of upright standards on which an elongated, horizontally disposed workman's supporting section is adapted to be positioned. The upright standards include an elevatable section mounted thereon for movement therealong from which the corresponding end of the workman's supporting platform may be supported. The base section of each standard is horizontally elongated and includes upwardly convergent opposite end portions that are interconnected at their upper ends by means of a horizontal portion. It will be appreciated from a thorough reading of the Solari patent that the structure disclosed therein is unnecessarily complex, is unnecessarily bulky, is unnecessarily costly, and is particularly unwieldy, thereby precluding the possibility of compact storage when not in use.
Another example of prior art scaffolding is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,392,801 granted on July 16, 1968, to K. W. Gethmann. In the Gethmann patent there is disclosed a scaffold device in which a first section has opposite upright ends and brace means extending from one upright end to the other upright end. A pair of vertically disposed hollow tubular members are positioned on the upper portion of the upright ends in order to support a second scaffold section that is comprised of two tie braces and two scaffold members, all four of which are further comprised of a horizontal member connecting two vertically disposed tubular members. The tubular members of the scaffold members are detachably secured to the upright ends of the first scaffold section and the tubular members of the tie braces slidably engage the tubular members of the two scaffold members, thereby interconnecting them. While the Gethmann patent does represent some improvement over the Solari structure in that it is more readily disassemblable, it will be appreciated that means are not provided for permitting a wide range of positions and locations of the second scaffold section.
Still another form of scaffold is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 835,059 granted on Nov. 6, 1906, to G. Curley. In the Curley patent there are disclosed a plurality of upright portions having horizontal tie members extending between the two side sections thereof. Platforms are adapted to be positioned on the tie members are various heights depending upon the height of the tie members above the ground. From the disclosure of the Curley patent it will be evident that the structure is extremely complex, is costly and is time consuming to assemble. In addition, the structure disclosed in the Curley patent does not readily lend itself to compact storage when not in use.